


Not Perfect Yet

by seerofdream



Category: RWBY
Genre: Cutting, Free Verse, Self-Harm, not graphic, poem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 03:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2452691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seerofdream/pseuds/seerofdream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reflections on Weiss's perfectionism and the ways it affects her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Perfect Yet

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since I first saw S1E7 of RWBY, Weiss's line, "I'm. Not. Perfect. Not yet." has stuck with me. This idea has been floating around in my head for probably a year now, originally as an idea for a fic. I finally realized today that it was more of a prose-poem, so tonight I just sat down and wrote it. It's partially a reflection of my own experience (hence the third person voice), partly specific to Weiss (hence the specific references), but ultimately something to which a lot of people can probably relate on some level.

**Not Perfect Yet**

Her failures are tallied on her wrists and ankles,  
Raised lines in shades of red  
That stand out, flaws in the pure white of her skin,  
Some raw, fresh, still stinging in flesh and in memory,  
Others faded, soothed by time but never forgotten,  
Ever present marks urging her to work harder, to do better –  
To become Perfect.

She hides them from the world,  
Her failings, her imperfections, her uncertainties: her scars  
Hidden under snow white cloth,  
The unblemished façade that her skin is supposed to be.  
To admit to them is to give them permanence:  
Only through silence will she conquer them,  
Only through silence can they be erased from time,  
Fading from her memory – and so from reality –  
Once she is Perfect.

So she is alone,  
In fear – pain – panic – despair,  
Each new cut a condemnation as much as an exhortation,  
She can’t, but she must, be  
Perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> The perspective I took comes more from my way of thinking when I was still in the thick of my own battle with perfectionism and depression. In reality, silence is NOT the solution - not to present problems, not to future problems, not to problems caused by the past. Please, if you are dealing with something, reach out to a friend, a family member, a classmate, a coworker, me; there is somebody out there who cares and who will help. And please, keep reaching out, even if it the problems aren't solved the first time or the fiftieth. As hard as it may seem, resigning yourself to "live" (in quotes because it isn't really living, just surviving and existing) with your problems unaddressed is infinitely worse, I promise. It will probably be slow, it will probably be difficult, but in the end, isn't really living, really having hope, worth it?


End file.
